The Elemental Fighter Chapter 1
by Petite
Summary: This takes place after the Immortals War. It's about a girl from the Lumuhu Valley named Dominia who feels the need to travel to Tortall. Please R/R this is my first fic and I wanna know if I should keep writting


Disclaimer I don't own this characters. They all belong to Tamora Pierce (except for Dominia, but she can have her). Enjoy and please R/R  
  
  
  
The Elemental Fighter  
  
Chapter 1 Dominia  
  
She awoke with a start; the same dream she had been having since her mother's death. Something was calling to her, something she needed to find. Like all the other mornings she packed her things harnessed her horse. She had just entered the land of Tortall through the Tusaine Mountain Pass.  
  
She had heard stories of this land. A lady knight who was also the King's Champion, a black robed mage, and even a girl her age that possessed the ability to speak with animals. She was curious about this land, but the only reason why she was coming anywhere near it is because something was calling to her.  
  
While thinking about the interesting stories she had heard she didn't notice all the bandits surrounding her. She quickly awoke from her daydreaming when her horse stopped abruptly. 'STUPID! How could I have let this happen?' She had been raised since childhood to take care of herself and remain alert to her surroundings. Her mother had made sure she learned how to fight hand-to-hand, use daggars, and archery. She said a Doi fortune teller had told her to prepare her daughter for the trials ahead.   
  
"What do we have here? Don't you know you have to pay a toll for crossing here?" asked a tall man who was obviously the leader.  
  
"And are you the King's messenger?" Dominia, the girl, asked, while letting her hand slip down to where she kept one of her many daggers.  
  
The man drew his bow and aimed at her horses feet, the arrow stuck out of the ground six inches away from the mare's foot and she reared tossing her rider off.  
  
  
Not to far off Sir Raoul, Knight Commander of the King's Own, heard the noise while he and a small company of the Own were investigating the report of bandits. He and his men set off towards the sound. When they got there he assesed the situation; a young girl about the age of sixteen was just getting up from where her horse had dropped her and was surrounded by a bunch of bandits, obviously the ones they had been looking for.  
  
The men spread out, intending on circling the bandits, but a twig snapped bringing the bandits attention to them. The bandits who had bows fired at them. One arrow lodged itself in Raoul's shoulder.  
  
"Goddess!" he growled as he noticed the arrow. He snapped the shaft and removed the arrow from his shoulder. Tossing it aside he helped his men and this girl round up the bandits; despite her young age she took out a few of the bandits herself by using her daggers and hand-to-hand skill.  
  
Once the bandits were tied up a wave of dizziness struck Raoul, he swayed a little, but caught his balance. This did not go unnoticed by the girl or some of the Own. "Must've been poisoned," he muttered.  
  
"May I help, Sir?" Dominia asked quietly.  
  
"Are you a healer?"  
  
"No Sir, but I know about herbs and remedies to poisons."  
  
Raoul nodded his head and Dominia quickly looked over the arrow. The type of poison used on the tip of the arrow was a rare kind, found usually near streams and river beds. The antidote to the poison was equally rare. "Do you know where there are Jasmines?"  
  
"They are not found in these parts," said Hakim, one of the men accompanying Raoul.  
  
"I'll look around, I'm sure I can find some." Dominia looked around the nearby area and did not find one Jasmine, but several. She brought a handful back to the shocked men and began making the antidote.  
  
Within minutes of the herbs beinging applied Raoul was beginning to feel much better. "That's a powerful cure, youngling. Where did you learn to make it?"  
  
"I didn't learn, Sir I just knew."  
  
"What is your name child?"  
  
"Dominia"  
  
"I am Sir Raoul of Goldenlake. Do you have the Gift?"  
  
"No, Sir"  
  
"Why are you travelling alone?"  
  
"I have no family left that I know of."  
  
"Is that why you came to Tortall? you heard it was safer here?"  
  
Dominia blushed a little and looked away from the tall knight's face. "I don't know why I came to Tortall I was following..." her blush grew darker, "I was following something..."  
  
"And what is that something?" Raoul asked smiling slightly.  
  
"I don't know"  
  
"Well, your riding with us until you know"  
  
"But..."  
  
"No buts, you saved my life and I plan to make sure you stay safe 'til you find what your after."  
  
With that the argument was settled. They all mounted their horses and travelled to the next village, where Raoul turned the men over to the magistrate, and they stopped for the night.  
  
  
Back at the palace in Corus...  
  
It was the time of the Voice and King Jonathon was listenning to all of the Brazhir. He listened as Raoul told them of how they captured the bandits they were sent after and how he was saved by a young girl. Raoul told Jonathon how the girl saved him when she found the flower Jasmine in the Tusaine Mountain Pass.  
  
'Jasmines? In the Mountain Pass? They do not grow so far north.' Intrigued Jonathon told Raoul to bring the girl back to Corus with him.  
  
  
The next morning...  
  
"Dominia?"  
  
"Yes, Sir?"  
  
"Please just Raoul. King Jonathon asked for me to bring you back to Corus with us." Seeing the worried look in her eyes, Raoul said, "He just wants to ask you a few questions about your healing skills."  
  
"Alright I'll go to Corus." Somehow it just felt like she should go there. That she'd find what she was looking for there.  



End file.
